David Finkelstein was born and raised in Houston, Texas and graduated from St. John's High School in 2007. Throughout his education, Mr. Finkelstein earned various school awards in foreign languages (Japanese, Latin, and Spanish), and was recognized at the state level for his prowess in Japanese (placing 2nd twice in the Japanese Speech Contest sponsored by the Japan-America Society) and Latin (placing 3rd twice in Advanced Latin Poetry Reading Comprehension through the Junior Classical League). While in high school, Mr. Finkelstein was also very active in Boy Scouts of America Troop 806, where he served as Patrol Leader, Troop Guide, Assistant Senior Patrol Leader, Junior Assistant Scoutmaster, and after earning his Eagle Scout Award (Scouting's highest rank), Assistant Scoutmaster.

Mr. Finkelstein's undergraduate major was settled as soon as he set foot on WashU’s campus in the fall of 2007: his love of languages had been a large part of his life as early as kindergarten. Since then he’s studied Japanese, Spanish, Latin, Hebrew, and Greek. Rivaling his love of languages is his love of classic rock, especially the anthems of the 1970s and 1980s, a love that is expressed through one of his many extracurricular hobbies: playing guitar. David is also an avid sports fan, especially fond of the Texas Longhorns and the Houston Texans football teams.

Mr. Finkelstein graduated from Washington University in 2010 (a semester ahead of schedule) earning a Bachelor's in Classics with honors, maintaining a 3.68 GPA and being named to the Dean's List for four semesters and in 2012 (also a semester ahead of schedule) earning a Master's in Teaching, maintaining a 3.89 GPA. As an undergraduate, Mr. Finkelstein was a member of Tau Kappa Epsilon fraternity, where he served as Hegemon (Educator) and was awarded the Roy and Katherine Otte Academic Excellence Scholarship; Eta Sigma Phi National Honorary Society for Classics; and the Order of Omega Greek Leadership Honorary Society. As part of his Master's program, Mr. Finkelstein also earned Missouri State Teacher Certification (K-12 Latin) and a Certificate of Merit in Instructional Technologies. During this time, he was also elected President of the Kappa Delta Pi Honorary Society for Education.

Mr. Finkelstein has worked as a summer camp counselor for middle school-aged campers at Camp Young Judaea, Texas (in Wimberley); as an academic and test prep (PSAT, SAT, SAT Subject Test, ACT, and GRE) tutor for various companies and privately since 2009; as a classroom observer at Metro Academic & Classical High School (a magnet school named twice as both a Missouri Gold Star school and a national Blue Ribbon school) in St. Louis, Missouri and at St. Louis Priory School (an all-boys' Catholic school, ranked 1st among St. Louis-area schools, with students earning an average ACT score of 31) in Creve Coeur, Missouri; and as a student-teacher at Visitation Academy of St. Louis (Priory's sister school, an all-girls' Catholic school noted for its academic rigor) in St. Louis and at Ladue Horton Watkins High School (a public high school ranked 1st in the state in 2013, based on the Advanced Placement college prep program) in Ladue, Missouri. As a certified teacher, Mr. Finkelstein taught Latin I and II at Parkway North High School, a public school in St. Louis County for the 2012-2013 academic year, before deciding to move back to Texas. Mr. Finkelstein taught Latin for two years at Baylor College of Medicine Academy in Houston ISD before moving to Austin to teach in Eanes ISD.